Question re: CNAM assignment on reseller accts

Since the reseller CP currently does not have any fields pertaining to customer and/or business name, where will the CNAM information for an account be held so it can be submitted to the CLEC?

Currently, it appears that outgoing calls from numbers associated with reseller accounts are showing "OUT OF AREA". I have no doubt that my customers would want their outbound caller ID to reflect their name (and, in some cases, custom information).

What's the plan to allow for CNAM information to be populated/maintained?

We don't officially offer outgoing caller ID name with our retail residential service, but it is available in some areas upon request.

The issue is that some CLEC partners offer it and some don't. Since it's not available across the board we don't advertise it as available.

In terms of how people react to it...

With our residential service, we don't set it on new numbers. If someone requests it specifically we will see if it is available for that number and do it upon request if it is. It's rare that anyone mentions it. Vonage has never offered it.

We may be able to look at some tool for resellers to check its availability, but it's not something that's going to be available on all numbers. It would be nice to have, but there is a lot of bureaucracy in wholesale VoIP and some CLECs just don't offer it with their wholesale offerings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VOIPoTim

We may be able to look at some tool for resellers to check its availability, but it's not something that's going to be available on all numbers. It would be nice to have, but there is a lot of bureaucracy in wholesale VoIP and some CLECs just don't offer it with their wholesale offerings.

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It's unfortunate that this 'classic' calling feature is not made available by all CLECs. However, I understand you can only offer those features that are available to you.

I appreciate the suggestion for offering a tool... I am of the belief that ANY tool you could offer resellers to enhance both their customer service and their self-service abilities will be well received and much appreciated!

In the meantime, I'd like to suggest the following...

1. Provide a list (even a sticky posting in the forums would work) of the CLECs that DO offer this service
2. 'Enhance' the phone number drop-down listing in the reseller CP (when creating new accounts or assigning new virtual numbers) that includes information about which CLEC is providing the number (maybe by providing the CLEC name in alpha order in the drop down, with the associated numbers listed under each)

This could serve multiple purposes... If a reseller has a request for outbound CNAM (as I already have from one of my BETA customers), they can focus on numbers from CLECs they know provide the service (or, explain to the customer that the feature is not currently available in their area). It would also allow resellers to be more informed about the CLECs available to them in a particular area - in case they have noticed a trend of 'issues' with certain carriers.

My overall take is this... there is no such thing as providing me too much information. ;)